Just to be clear, seeing as I have been asked this several times including just this week.......no I am not retiring from triathlon. Nor do I have any plans to do so. Yes I am expecting a new baby to arrive any time from now up to 4 or so weeks away and could not be more excited about this new arrival and all the changes that will mean.
However I am also excited about getting back into training and racing. In fact my body and mind feel refreshed and my self confidence in athletic ability and love of the sport is actually stronger now than probably any time over the last 4 or 5 years. I think this time out has been a great eye opener to the fact that my body (and mind) were not in optimal condition and have not been for a while. In short I am someone very guilty of over doing things - of not being able to listen to the cues of my body, of loving training and that feeling of pain too much so that too often I was trying to play catch up, trying to nurse my body and spirit back to some semblance of fitness and dragging myself to the start lines. I knew that I was under-performing and this made me want to chase things harder rather than listen to myself and those close to me that I trust that instead I needed to take a step back, or two. So yes I am excited to race again. To be clear, I am under no illusions that it will be easy - I am sure that I will be lacking sleep, I know that I wont be able to be selfish in taking day time naps or training as and when it suits me. I know that I have not 'trained' specifically for about a year now. And yet I feel fit, I feel like I am in good shape physically and mentally and I actually think that having to fit in and around another precious little dependent person is not only something that I am looking forward to but may be the only thing that protect me from myself! - that stops me from over doing things, from over thinking and instead just doing exactly what needs doing and enjoying it at the same time.

So bring on 2013! Cant wait to see you at the races and to introduce you to the new addition who right now is squirming around and kicking so hard like he/she just wants to come out and play and maybe have a little bit more space!!